Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Looking For A Fight

The two top candidates for Lieutenant Governor continue to trade tough jabs, two weeks out -- as the race becomes personal.

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PETER KINDER'S CAMPAIGN SAYS SAM PAGE DOES NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BECAUSE OF HIS OPPOSITION TO THE DEATH PENALTY:

"Peter Kinder has always been a strong supporter of the death penalty and have always been prepared to carry out an execution in the event the governor was out of state. Peter believes we owe it to the victims of heinous crimes like murder to ensure that justice is served," said Kinder spokesman Paul Sloca. "Missourians should be concerned about Sam Page’s opposition to the death penalty and his apparent inability to carry out the duties of lieutenant governor," Sloca added.TEAM PAGE RESPONDS:

"Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is apparently too busy defending physical and sexual abusers of children to check his facts," said Page spokesperson Bret Bender. "The man who called all Democrats dumb farm animals is so desperate at this point he has given up on twisting the truth and is just conjuring attacks out of thin air. Rep. Page has never co-sponsored such legislation," Bender added, referring to 2007 legislation to repeal the death penalty.

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TEAM PAGE HITS KINDER ON SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS:

The Page campaign said Kinder should explain the hiring of Stacey Blomberg, who they say serves dual roles as an employee for the state and a worker for Kinder's campaign.

"The revolving door between campaign work and state work is well known in Kinder's office. Deputy Lieutenant Governor Jerry Dowell is also a member of Tour of Missouri Inc. even while moonlighting as a paid campaign manager for a Republican Congressional candidate. Campaign e-mails were found on the computer of former Kinder Chief-of-Staff Eric Feltner. And a slew of Kinder state staffers were found coordinating campaign efforts with Kinder's campaign spokesman Paul Sloca on state e-mail accounts," said Page spokesperson Bret Bender.

"It's time for the flagrant campaign work on state time and on our tax dollars in the lieutenant governor's office to come to an end," Bender added.

TEAM KINDER RESPONDS:

"Sam Page should be more worried about federal charges for taking campaign contributions from foreign nationals rather than who is working in the campaign office, but, to address Sam Page’s personnel obsession, Stacey Blomberg does not work in the campaign office. Does this guy have any real issues to talk about," responded Kinder spokesperson Sloca. "Blomberg has a letter from the Missouri Ethics Commission saying she has no conflict of interest as long as she does campaign work on her own time," Sloca added. (Here’s link: Blomberg ethics letter)